1963 Los Angeles Dodgers at end of "Camelot"

He could turn on the jets.

The baseball Dodgers were quite detached from Brooklyn by the time of JFK and the 1963 baseball season. We were encouraged to look at the Brooklyn past through a nostalgic lens. We read paeans. Ebbets Field was in New York City so it must have been a "cool" place. That was the bias of the East Coast power media, just like they saw Fenway Park with its oddities in a cool way.
It was much harder to sell ourselves here in the heart of Flyoverland.
The primacy of the East Coast-centric media has waned. The digital age has been a nice equalizer. I talked with a friend once who saw a game at Ebbets Field when he was in the service. "What was it like?" I eagerly asked. "It was a dump," my friend (initials D.E.) said.
Pop culture such as the movie "It Happened in Flatbush" - Lloyd Nolan starring, remember? - would not diss the place. By contrast us Minnesotans had to be defensive feeling good about our Metrodome. There was a dismissive air to how broadcasters said "homer dome." Well, we were in the Midwest, no slack cut for us.
Roger Angell of The New Yorker seemed condescending when writing about the Twins in the 1960s. I mean, such an attitude would be off the table with the East Coast teams. He only seemed generous when acknowledging our team's roots as the Senators of Washington D.C. I imagine the Dodgers tapped into his wellspring of memories too from their days in "Flatbush."
The Dodgers got their nickname from the big city trait of "dodging" streetcars - did you know that? Neat. "Twins" is maybe not clear to some either: it's based on the "twin" cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, who walked a tightrope to make sure no toes were stepped on at the origination. So quaint to remember now. Young people would need a history lesson.
 
Year after missile crisis
So in 1963 the Dodgers reached the summit with their stellar play, dispatching the New York Yankees in the minimum four games in the Fall Classic. The Yankees' mystique would not fade until 1965. They barely hung on to take the American League flag in '64.
In '63 the Bronx crew seemed pretty stable and powerful. It was the year after the Cuban missile crisis. We all should have just been thankful to be alive. In '63 I'm sure that Angell was most delighted to see the Yankee pinstripes holding on from the A.L. And the Dodgers most likely had a special niche in the writer's mind, as these were the former Brooklyn Dodgers. Yes, from "Flatbush." In a sense he probably saw the 1965 Series as being between the Washington Senators and Brooklyn Dodgers. (It was Minnesota vs. L.A.)
There was a time in big league baseball when St. Louis meant "a trip west." Need I remind also about the belated nature of racial integration. "Quaint" is too mild a word to describe. Years passed before the door got opened sufficiently for the so-called minorities. Look how belated Boston was. Was really criminal.
 
Aura of Camelot
The '63 World Series inspires nostalgia for yours truly because it was at the tail end of "Camelot." JFK was in the White House with First Lady Jacqueline. A year earlier, October 1962, when my father Ralph had a university music ensemble in Seattle for the World's Fair, JFK canceled out of the closing ceremony under the cover story of a cold. He was grappling with the missile crisis.
The Cold War colored my youth. In 1963 I was eight years old. I was barely becoming familiar with major league baseball. Minnesota still had a mania about our still-new Twins. We were entranced by that, partly because in those days, the only team anyone could see on TV regularly was your "home" team.
I acquired my first baseball cards in '63 at a neighborhood grocery in west Morris MN. I still visualize the design of the Topps cards, nice use of color.
It was from a breakfast cereal card that I learned about what Roger Maris did in 1961: 61 home runs. Finally in 1964 I collected enough cards at a nickel a pack to fill a couple shopping bags. Thankfully I held onto all those. Someone sold them for me for commission in the mid-1980s.
The 1963 World Series was a month before we lost JFK in the earthshaking assassination. The smiling visage of JFK defined our spirits as we followed the Fall Classic in 1963. The Classic was not a classic if suspense was your bag. It was a classic if you appreciated top-notch pitching.
The '60s would develop as a decade with pitching really coming to the fore, excessively by '68. So MLB made adjustments.
In October of '63, the Dodgers showcased Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and reliever Ron Perranoski. The Yankee bats went largely impotent. How much so? My, the Dodger arms gave up just four runs in the four games. Yawn (maybe). At no point in any of the games did the Yankees have the lead!
The Bronx bombers proved to be duds as their team batting average was .171. The "Mendoza line" did not exist then! Chris Berman wasn't around but Mel Allen was. The '63 Series was Allen's 22nd and last World Series broadcast. He came down with laryngitis and had to bail in Game 4 with Vin Scully moving in for him. Game 4 was the highest rated sports broadcast of 1963.
The Joey Bishop show in 1964 had lead character Joey Barnes host members of the 1963 Dodgers on his variety show. Drysdale actually sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."
The first two games of the '63 Series were played at Yankee Stadium, the next two at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers prevailed by scores of 5-2, 4-1, 1-0 and 2-1.
 

Halsey Hall

Veiled racism, probably
I can plumb from my memories how a long-time color announcer for our Minnesota Twins said "I've never liked the Dodgers." It lodged in my mind a little because he did not elaborate. What is there to "dislike" about a major league baseball team, unless you're pointing out specifics or alluding to certain individuals and their behavior?
Looking back all these years later, I wonder if it was an Archie Bunker-like problem. I don't wish to be hard on the late broadcaster. That's why I make the immediate parallel with Archie Bunker, a loved TV character in spite of his, well, Neanderthal traits.
Why would Mr. Hall simply dislike the Dodgers? I have to ponder now: I remember the L.A. lineup having Maury Wills batting leadoff, Jim "Junior" Gilliam at No. 2 followed by Willie Davis and Tommy Davis in the heart of the order. Tommy won the league batting title. John Roseboro was the catcher and Lou Johnson was a World Series hero vs. our Twins in '65. What do they all have in common? They were players of color.
Mr. Hall's background with baseball went back a very long way. He was invited to tell stories in the opposing team's booth during rain delays. I remember when he was asked "who's better, Rod Carew or Ty Cobb?" and without hesitation said Cobb. (Larry Calton asked the question.)
Without hesitation? Why? Carew was a player of color while Cobb played in segregated times. Carew was so phenomenal as a batter, he got on the cover of Time Magazine. It would have seemed obligatory for Mr. Hall to talk up Carew. Cobb was not a model citizen with his attitude or behavior. Thinking about Cobb almost evokes caveman times.
Mr. Hall would be upstaged in the non-enlightened department by Twins owner Calvin Griffith. Griffith's statue was recently removed from Target Field. Nothing subtle about his racial feelings. Then again, let's trot out Archie Bunker in connection to both Halsey Hall and Calvin Griffith. People my age are painfully conflicted about these guys. I have written a song about Halsey Hall. But he should have been congratulatory toward the Dodgers. And he should have extolled Rob Carew. Then he could light up another cigar or avail himself of another "refreshment."
His broadcast partner Herb Carneal once said Halsey "really appreciated good cigars." Unfortunately "that's not the kind he smoked," Carneal added.
 
Never forget: Camelot!
We ought to associate our memories of the grand '63 Series with the glory or innocence of Camelot. After JFK it was Lyndon Johnson and the nightmare Vietnam war.
The '63 Series was the first meeting between teams from New York City and Los Angeles for a major professional sports championship. All hail Sandy Koufax at his peak, plus the other stellar cast members. Do we even think about race or color?
 
More on my podcast
I'm pleased to share additional background/highlights from the Dodgers' superb '63 campaign on my "Morris Mojo" podcast. I invite you to click:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/The-1963-Los-Angeles-Dodgers-ei2bki
  
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Dominating, so often